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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26325601">Book 1: A New Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machaeus/pseuds/Machaeus'>Machaeus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Saga of Kisaz [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dungeons &amp; Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original setting - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Other, kobold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:14:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,252</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26325601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machaeus/pseuds/Machaeus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Visited by an unfamiliar deity at a young age, Kisaz was a kobold who found herself hiding things from her warren.  Though her spark of faith never wavered, neither did it grow, until the day when a dreadful necromancer stormed her home with an undead army and slew her father, a powerful sorcerer, and dominated their chieftain's mind.  In that moment of terror, she fled her cavernous home into the rain.</p><p>Awakening from her flight, she met a trio of adventurers: Rohai, a halfling from a family of wizards; Illia, an elf on leave from her time as a scout; and Demgad, a dwarf warrior with an ear for music.  Upon learning of the necromancer, whom they believe is one "Telora of the Grave," they become allies of circumstance.  Slowly, though, this alliance turns into a true friendship.</p><p>The problem, of course, is that Telora is a powerful foe, and she still stalks the lands with her undead, seeking to grow her power and build an army.  Can the four heroes strike back against the dark magician, or will they scatter to the winds, and Kisaz be denied her new home?</p><p>~~~~</p><p>An original setting and fiction for D&amp;D</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>none yet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Saga of Kisaz [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912924</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Book 1: A New Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kisaz grumbled as she stirred on the cot, barely registering that she'd woken up for a reason. The kobold priestess tried to roll over and go back to sleep, the pounding and ringing in her head both irritating her and clouding her judgment. Finally, the headache faded, slowly but surely, and she smiled to herself as she settled back in, ignoring the many footsteps around her.</p><p>It was about half a minute later when someone began to shake her shoulder. "Kisaz," Miluki shouted, "the alarm just went off!" The bright red kobold's ruby eyes showed great panic.</p><p>"Wha?" Kisaz managed in a sleepy groan, before finally realizing what had caused her splitting headache: the Softskin Bell. Apparently the scouts had found some surface-dwellers near the warren's entrance – which probably meant adventurers.</p><p>Cursing rather foully, she scrambled upright from her cot, slipping a set of dark green robes over her gray-deep-blue scales. Making sure she had her bow and staff, she followed Miluki out into the rough stone halls, towards the war room.</p><p>Most kobolds had long had trouble with the softskins. Humans, halflings, elves, dwarves, and gnomes. Especially gnomes. Not that many were in the area, but whenever they did show up near a kobold warren, gnomes and their damnable god seemed to make it a point to mock the kobolds and their works.</p><p>The Mistclaw tribe had a different situation than most warrens, though: when they moved into their current location after a disastrous fight with an adventurer group, they decided to be far more isolationist, leaving the safety of the warren only to hunt for food, and retreating to defensible and hidden positions when they got a warning from their great alarm bell. Not that staying in their warren bothered kobolds, who were generally more comfortable underground anyway.</p><p>Even their new chieftain, a hothead named Zazab, saw the brilliance of avoiding trouble as much as possible, especially when it came to the softskins.</p><p>Shaking her head with worry, Kisaz made her way into the tightly-packed war room, where the tribe's sorcerer, her father, a grey-scaled kobold named Porodok, was advising Zazab, their chieftain. The young leader's bright green scales flashed as he whirled around wildly, practically growling out his orders, all while her father explained tactical choke points and plans to their leader, his lieutenants, and their soldiers.</p><p>The whole war room, lit with torches to show the colors that kobold dark-vision could not see, was chaos as they assigned roles to each warrior. Kisaz reported as the seventh group left the post of command. "What would you have of me?" she asked.</p><p>Zazab grunted as he looked up. "You are on healing duty as always," he responded, his gravelly voice as harsh as ever. "Your father won't risk you, and neither can I, so close to your first mating season." Kisaz nodded grimly, not for the first time wishing she could actually help her fellows in a way besides simple healing. "However, we may need you at Point 3 if we get desperate," he added. "Otherwise, stay back from the front lines."</p><p>"Yes sir," she replied. She hurried to the healer's warren, the priestess taking a few breaths to calm herself. After all, she knew who to expect – her mentor, the healer Kavuma, and her friend Miluki would be there.</p><p>Arriving, she found that Miluki had beaten her there, and was talking to some soldiers in a panic. "The mining tunnels?!" Miluki yelped as Kisaz approached.</p><p>"Yeah," the soldier growled in worry. "We've got something tunneling in from the sound of things. You'll be needed to patch and snipe on those front lines."</p><p>"Of all the times," Kisaz sighed. "Everything goes wrong at once, I suppose."</p><p>"No kidding," the soldier said, leading the two young healers along.</p><p>The soldiers took to the secondary front lines, protecting their healers with light leather armor and iron-tipped spears. Kisaz and Miluki hung near the back. The tension was high, for Kisaz knew that if this was a dual assault – both from surface-dwellers – they wouldn't survive without a miracle.</p><p>And, priestess and kobold though she was, she didn't dare pray to Kurtulmak for any.</p><p>"We'll be fine," Miluki said with a smile, reading her friend's expression. She cocked her crossbow as she spoke.</p><p>"Sorry," Kisaz murmured. "I'm always so nervous."</p><p>"I know," Miluki said. "We share a bunk. I know you're a nervous wreck.</p><p>"Speaking of," she added casually, "your first mating season's coming up. Who're you planning on sharing your bunk with?" she asked with another grin.</p><p>Kisaz hesitated. Her friend was trying to help distract her from the building nerves, and thankfully it was working. "Probably Potek," she replied. "If he'll have me, of course."</p><p>"Aww," Miluki pouted, "I wanted the cute trap-master. Hey, ask him if he's got room in his schedule for two!" she said as her eyes lit up.</p><p>"Miluki!" Kisaz giggled, the tension fading into the background. "Besides, knowing how randy you got last year you might kill him from exhaustion." Miluki clammed up in embarrassment as a few soldiers laughed at their naughty discussion.</p><p>A while passed as they prepared for the upcoming fight. "But," Kisaz sighed, "I'm still nervous. What if I don't get anyone? What happens then, do I just go back to medic duty? And what'll dad think? How could I even face him knowing I didn't – couldn't – do my duty?"</p><p>Miluki shook her head. "You'll be fine," she smiled. "I know you will."</p><p>"But what if – " the priestess began again.</p><p>A claw from her friend rested on the front of her mouth. "You won't screw this up," Miluki smiled. "You and I both know you're better than that."</p><p>Kisaz sighed. "I wish I believed it," she muttered.</p><p>"There's no way Kurtulmak would abandon someone as faithful as you," Miluki smiled. "I know you pray once a week or so." Kisaz whipped her head to stare at her friend, light brown eyes wide with shock. "What? He'll surely bless you for your faith."</p><p>"Thank you," Kisaz said finally, though she knew it wasn't convincing enough. She didn't have the spine or the heart to tell her friend the truth.</p><p>She wasn't an acolyte of Kurtulmak, but of a tall kobold calling himself "Kulkarin the Brave." He claimed to be a hero-deity of "her true birthright," and a servant of a true goddess of her people, one that Kurtulmak only pretended to be. Of course, his words were blasphemy, but he blessed her all the same. She didn't dare tell anyone of her visitation, or the true source of her healing magic.</p><p>Little was worse to a kobold community, already with no allies, than to have someone dividing their already weak presence.</p><p>As if that weren't enough, Kulkarin also told the kobold that she would need to leave her warren someday. That alone was terrifying – kobolds never left their warren permanently, and the Mistclaw tribe made it a point to only go out for hunting or gathering. Besides, the world was full of big, nasty creatures that would see a kobold as an easy snack or a minor threat, never mind the softskins that would likely hunt her.</p><p>She didn't have much time to dwell on these facts or their worrisome implications, however. "Here it comes," a soldier said. "Get ready." Chips of rock and dirt fell away from the wall they faced, and soon the tunnel broke open – and yet nothing came out. The kobolds held their ground, determined to make a wall of themselves.</p><p>That lasted until the first bone-only hand gripped the hole and pushed, the stench of rot and death following in a second. "Undead!" someone breathed. "Sound the alarm! Abandon the warren, undead!" he bellowed as the empty skull rose over the widening hole.</p><p>In that time, the line had broken for the exit. The corpses clambered through their tunnel, some with ease, some clumsily. Many forced the hole wider, either by their mere passing or on purpose. All the skeletons were wielding bows larger than Kisaz, and the zombies were unarmed, shambling forward and swiping with their thick limbs at any stragglers.</p><p>The kobolds scrambled through the tunnels, screaming, "Undead! Undead!" until they were hoarse. Zazab and her father hurried to meet them, the chieftain looking irritated at the claim. "What are you babbling about?" Zazab shouted. "There are no undead in these tunnels!"</p><p>"The mines were broken through!" a soldier yelped. "The catacombs are filled with skeletons and zombies and – !"</p><p>"Calm down," Porodok said calmly, his voice filled with power. The soldier managed to take a breath at the sorcerer's commanding words, which Kisaz recognized were actually a spell. She was thankful that he had the foresight to know how to calm others, even if he had to do it by force of magic. While the soldiers calmed their nerves, Porodok continued, "Lead me there. I will help deal with this threat."</p><p>Kisaz went cold. Her father was a powerful sorcerer, but could he really hold off a small army of the walking dead? She dared not think if they dragged his soul away to whatever dark hell-world the living dead came from. Zazab apparently agreed, voicing her concerns with an incredulous shout. "Are you mad? You're more useful to us against the adventurers, for one; for another, you can't fight off an entire undead horde yourself!"</p><p>"I can," he stated. "The adventurers aren't a greater threat than the undead. If we need to deal with the outside softskins, we'll simply hide and retreat, see if our traps can't keep them off. Besides, a mage of some kind had to have made those walking corpses. I'm your best bet if he's leading."</p><p>Zazab growled as he closed his eyes, but relented with a pained nod. "You'd better not die. I'm sending four good soldiers with you." Calling for those four warriors with a messenger, the warren redesigned their battle plan, preparing for a war against those who had already died. Within a few minutes, Porodok advanced with his temporary guard to the undead.</p><p>Her father was right in his assessment. There was a softskin there – a human mage with black, oily hair, dressed in a dark grey robe that was tattered at the sleeves and bottom. She was a woman, if the two strange chest-pieces that softskin women always wore under their clothes were any indication. Kisaz, hanging back with Zazab, wondered the purpose of the two orbs for not the first time, having seen them in books that her father had found and held onto. He believed that being well-read was important, even for a kobold tribe, where literacy in anything but Draconic was rare. And yet, even though she had read through much, she hadn't found the purpose of the strange round accessories.</p><p>The strangely thin woman grinned, her pale skin and emaciated frame making her look uglier than most humans, and she gestured at Porodok, who retaliated with an incantation that shielded him from the necromancer's spell, the black, serrated darts of magic slamming into a rounded barrier and fading into wisps of dark smoke. Snarling another slew of arcane sounds, Porodok flung a small bead of red at the woman, who countered with a different gesture. She flung a golden bead into the red one, causing the two spells to wink out of existence.</p><p>The necromancer said something Kisaz didn't understand – it wasn't the Common tongue, certainly. The undead shambled forward at the command, shooting arrows and swiping at shields and armor. The arcane battle continued as the human flicked her wrist and her fingers contorted – and a black mist seeped from one of the soldiers protecting her father. As he groaned, staggering from the magic, a pair of arrows sprouted from his eyes, and the mist coalesced around him, drawing a purple light from his maw. The light flew into a heart-shaped hunk of carved amethyst that had slipped from the woman's sleeve into her grasp.</p><p>Kisaz shivered in horror, realizing that the warrior's soul had just been stolen from his corpse. She didn't even know a mortal mage could do something that awful. A second later, the same soldier's corpse rose and stabbed at her father, who barely dodged the clumsy blow and staggered back. The woman struck at his disadvantage, conjuring the same dread mist around Porodok this time. He fell under the dark spell and gasped his last breath as the spear sunk home in his gut.</p><p>Kisaz felt numb. This human woman had stolen her father from her.</p><p>The foul necromancer only grinned as the sorcerer's soul drifted to her amethyst jewel, and she snapped her fingers at Zazab. The chieftain yelped before he acquired a glassy look in his eyes, his movements jerky and dull, his voice dying down. "You will bow to me," the woman sneered. "All of you. Or else you will die." Her chieftain, without his will any longer, kneeled and bowed his head, his life now belonging to the necromancer's whims.</p><p>Seeing her chief bow, hearing the dark mage's threat, Kisaz's terror overcame her. She ran. She ran until she reached the opening of the warren, whimpering in horror and desperation the entire way, her vision blurring the walls together – only rote memory brought her to the outside world. She finally staggered out the main entrance and collapsed in the mountainside mud, sobbing, the rain beginning to fall overhead.</p><p>She didn't know where she lost her bow, or when she finally fell unconscious.</p>
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